Method of and apparatus for reducing and disintegrating ores



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. WARNE. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND DISINTEGRATING 033s.

No. 289,587. Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

Attest: Inventor:

V fig Z Y I V n. wzmws, Pholoulhognphor, Washinglun. n. c.

(No Model.) 4 She ets-Sheet 2.

. E. WARNE. I METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND DISINTEGRATING 0113s. I

No 289,587. PatentedDec. 4, 1883.

Attest: A I A I Inventor:

N. PETERS. Pnam-Lilho ra hu, Wnnhmlnn. no.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 3.

E. WARNE'. v METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND DI SINTEGRATING ORES.

-N0.- 289,587. Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

Attest: 4 lnv el lto rz N. PETERS; mgu-um m awr. Wnlhlnglun. n. 2.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

E. WARNE. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND DISINTEGRATING ORES. No. 289.587. Patent-edDeo. 4; 1883.

9 n H m 3 a A W bfi Fl r m w mun Ill 2/- t o z/ o 1/ mm mm fittest: Inventor;

N. Puma mtoumn n hm Walhington. 04 C UNITED STATES 'PATENT' OFFICE.

ELIJ AH WVARNE, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF'AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND DISINTEGRATING ORES. A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 289,587, dated December I Applicalion filed February 25, 1882. (No model.) i

.To all iuhont. it may concern.- 7

Be it known that I, ELIJAH WARNE, of Easton, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in the method of and apparatus for reducing and disintegrating or pulverizing ores and other minerals, of which the following is a specification.

The object I have in view is to so act upon ores and other minerals that, when subj ectedto proper pressure or percussion, they will break or disintegrate, and in so doing .separate, to a great extent, into their constituent elements. In order to accomplish this result, I first heat the ore or minerals to a degree which is determined by the character of the ore or minoral, and then, while in this heated condition, subject it to yielding pressure, which. will crush it and cause disintegration. By this last-named step I do not intend a grinding process, but an operation which will cause the ore, heated to a point most favorable for this result. to break up and disintegrate. In most cases the degree of heat varies from a faint dull red to the brightest red heator, say, from about 400 to 1500 Fahrenheit. Theharder or smaller than thev rock, so that by screeningthe product the metallic portion can be, to a greatextent, separated from the gangue. In this process, which involves the two steps above referred to, I am also enabled to effect separation of volatile portions of the ore or other mineral from other portions which do not volatilize at the particular heat applied, inasmuch .as the heat applied to and maintained in the ore during the'process is effective to drive off volatile con'stituentssuch as phosphorus, sulphur, lead," antimony, &c.

which latter may be carried off and condensed by suitable means. The yielding pressure is obtained by means of springs or their equivalents applied to the rolls or other pressing instrumentalities in such manner as to permit said instrumentalities to vyield and separate whenever the resistance of the material acted on by them exceeds a prescribedlimit,

the object being to avoid the grinding, pul- Yverizing action which would result were the order to cause it to fall into pieces, is not sufficient to cause the ore to be ground up; and

by graduating the pressure, I can, in operating on a mixture'of ores of different resistances, disintegrate ore of a resistance less thanthe applied pressure, while theore of higherfre sistance passes through practically unaffected, thus rendering the after work of separation more easy.

The apparatus which I employ in carrying out thisprocess contains features forming part of my invention, which can best be explained and understood by reference to the accom= panying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in sec= tion, and Fig. 2 is' a longitudinal central ver tical section, of theapparatus. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the right-hand end of the apparatus in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa planof the appa ratus. Fig. 5 is a plan of the concave feed roller and the portion of the apparatus below the same. Y

A is the stack or. furnace in which the ore is heated. It may be made of any suitable mate'rial. In this instance it is formed of brick, and is re-enforced by angle-irons a at the corners and by metal tie rods or bolts 1), which pass through the brick-work and bind together the angle-irons. mounted by ahopper, 13, provided With a sliding gate, 0, that formsits bottom. This gate closes the stack against escape of heat or gases, (except as hereinafter provided,) and is operated through the instrumentality of a bellcrank lever, d, loosely linked at oneend to the gate, and pivoted at the other end to the handle e. By moving the latter the gate canbe opened or closed, as desired. Upon opposite IOO sides of the lower portions of the stack are 1 placed furnaces or fire-boxes O O, which supply heat to the ore in the stack through passages f. Combustion of the fuel in the fur- 0 The top of the stack is sur- I in the stack.

nace is supported by pipes g, which conduct air, either hot or cold, preferably hot, under pressure, into the ash-pits, from which it passes up through the grates to the fuel. A convenient means of heating the air is to pass the pipes 9 through a chamber which receives hot.

with them in the fire-chamber, so as to form an intense heating flame. When solid fuel is used, it is fed into the furnaces through openings in their tops, which are closed by removable lids Z. (Indicated in plan in Fig. 4.) In event of insufficient heat being afforded 'by the two furnaces, or if too much time be required to heat the ore by them alone, I feed into the stack through the hopper additional combustible matter sufficient to increase the heat to the desired degree. The air or air and steam admitted to the furnaces is sufiicient in quantity to support proper combustion, and also to furnish, in addition, the oxygen needed to oxidize any volatile substance that may by the action of heat be driven off from the ore From-the top of the stack to one side of the hopper a pipe, m. leads into a hot-air chamber, D, through which passes the air-blast pipe 9, hereinbefore referred to. The heated gases and volatilized substances pass off through the pipe m into this chamber and serve to heat the air in pipe 9. From the hot-air chamber the gases, &c., pass into a chamber, E, in which the volatilized mineral matters are condensed. For this purpose the chamber contains at the bottom a tank, at, which is filled with water to about one-third the height of the chamber, and in the upper part of the chamber is a rose or perforated pipe, 0, from which water is sprayed. The tank is provided with a valve or cook controlled pipe, 19,-from which water passes .in measured quantity proportionate to the amount supplied tothe tank from the rose 0, the discharge-water carrying with it the condensed mineral substances and other matter that may gravitate to the bottom of the tank. To facilitate the condensing, I may admit a jet of cold air into'the chamber. This, however, is not a necessity. In this condensing operation, which results necessarily in reduc ing the heat, apartial vacuum is formed, which helps the draft in the stack. In the discharge opening or flue 1* of the condensing-chamber I place agate or damper, 8, (provided with an external handle, s,) by which the draft can be regulated as desired.

In the apparatus thus far described, the ore is heated to the proper degreethat is to say, to the point at which the constituent elements of the solid ore have the least power of cohesionand the substances contained in the ore which volatilize at this heat are separated therefrom and carried off. I now proceed to describe the preferred form of apparatus by means of which the ore thus heated is acted on in such manner as to effect its disintegration and reduction, using these terms in contradistinction to such a division as would result by an abrading or grinding operation.

The charge of heated ore in the stack rests on a concave feed-wheel, F, that is driven by any suitable instrumentality at a speed adequate to supply the ore to the crushing or reducing mechanism. The wheel projects into a feed spout or chute, F, as shown in the drawings, in such manner that no ore can pass down therethrough unless the wheel is revolved. The feed spout or chute should fit snugly the feed-wheel and other parts hereinafter described that project into it, and it is made in sections fitted into the opening in the base of the stack and leading to the ore crushing or reducing wheels G G, which are the instrumentalities here employed for the purpose. These wheels are power driven and mounted on horizontal axes in such manner as to project through opposite sides of the spout, with their peripheries in contact, or nearly so. In order to obtain efficiency and economy, I prefer to make these wheels each of a metallic spiderframe, provided with a separate rim formed of chilled iron segments bolted to the spider arms or frame, so that they may be removed and replaced by others when worn out or injured. The wheels can in this way be made of large diameter, so as to have but comparatively a small portion of their surface in contact with the hot ore at any one time; and, ow ing to their skeleton formation, air is free to circulate through them, and thus aid in keeping them cool. It is preferable to drive the wheels at slightly-difterent speeds, and for this purpose the spur-wheel on wheel G has a less number of teeth than the spur-wheel on wheel G, which it engages and drives.

It is necessary in practice to vary the distance between the reducing rolls or wheels according to the kind of ore or mineral operated on, an d for this purpose the wheels should be so arranged as to be adjustable to and from one another. In the present instance the wheel G is adjustable, its journals being mounted in boxes t, which are arranged to slide horizontally and whose position is governed by set-screws o. With a view to permit the rolls to exert a yielding pressure upon the ore passing between them, for the purposes hereinbefore specified, I interpose between the rear or outer set-screws and the boxes strong springs w.

It will be understood that the whole range of adjustment in this respect is but comparatively slight, and will not, even when carried to the extreme, in ordinary work, be sufficient out of engagement with one another.

to throw the spur-wheels of the reducers G G In case wider range of movement is needed, it is manifest that the spur-wheels may be changed for larger ones, or that other known means may be employed to drive the wheels. The spring: pressure of the reducing-wheels can be adjusted by means of the set-screws which bear on the springs, and this feature is of impor tance in working the ores by my process.

The ore operated on is composed of various elements, some of which, when subjected to the action of reducing-wheels, will disintegrate at a lower pressure than others. Thus in passing the hot ore between the wheels with a definite adjustment of the spring-pressure some constituents of the ore will be disintegrated, while othersas, for instance, the silex or quartz portions-will only be broken up into pieces of a size determined by the width of the opening between the wheels.

In order. to render the spout or chute F capable of fitting snugly the adjustable wheel G, for the purpose of preventing escape of gases, &c., I make the upper section of the side of the spout on which the wheel G is situated adjustable, mounting it on a hinge, or, and controlling its position by means of an adjustingscrew, y, swiveled to it, and having its bearing ina fixed arm, as se en in Fig. 2, and I make the-lower section of this side of the chute adjustable in a similar manner by means of a hinge, x, and an adjustingscrew, y.

For the purpose of keeping the crushingwheels clear, I make use of scrapers a, which bear upon the faces. of the wheels, and are carried by a vibratory lever, I), provided at its outer end with an adjustable weight, If, by which the pressure of the scraper upon the wheels can be regulated. To cool these wheels, as well as the concave feed-wheel, I make use of water-jets 0 0 0 which discharge upon those portions of the wheels outside of the chute F.

Just below the feed-wheel I introduce into the chute one or more steam-jets, as indicated at d, with a view in part to assist in keeping down the temperature of the feed-wheel. The steam, however, in its passage upward toward the stack eventually becomes superheated, so that at the point where it enters the stack it is in a condition to support and aid combustion.

In working certain classes of ores-as, for instance, free-milling oresI find it advantageous to introduce water just above where the hot ore meets the reducing-wheels. A pipe for this purpose is indicated at 6, Fig. 2. The flow of water is so regulated that in coming in contact with the hot ore and wheels it assists materially in the reducing operation, and facilitates the disintegration of the ore. WVhen ore under these conditions is subjected to pressure between the reducing-wheels, disruption takes place, and it separates 'and breaks up into very small particles, not of one size,but of varying sizes, which sizes are determined by the number and different character of the constituent elementsof the ore-- as, for example, with one kind of .ore which I have worked in this way the quartz portion fell from the rolls in pieces about as large as a pea, while the metallic portions were in size from a mustard-seed down. The result, therefore, is not that which would be produced by the mere grinding or attrition of one hard body against another. This is what I aim to avoid; but I obtain disintegration or separation in such manner that by screening the product I can in great measure separate the metallic particles from the other constituents.

The spout F leads into a closed chamber, H, into which the reduced ore drops from the wheels G G. In this chamber the separation of the volatilized from the non-volatilized portions of the ore can be still further carried on, if desired. .For this purpose the chamber is provided with a valve-controlled duct, f, throughwhich is introduced air under pressure, and it also has at the opposite side a discharge-pipe, g, which extends to and opens into the upper part of the condensing-chamber E. The effect of the air coming in contact with the hot ore falling into the chamber or already lying upon the bottom of the chamber would be to oxidize any volatile atomssuch as sulphur, arsenic, &c.given off from the ore, and to carry the same up through the pipe into the condensing-ehamber. Thus both in the stack, in the spout or chute, and in the reduced-ore receptacle separation of the more volatile portions of the ore from those which do not volatilize is carried on.

What I claim, and'desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The described process of disintegrating and reducing ores and other minerals, consisting in first heating the ore or mineral to the degree most favorable for disintegrating action, and then subjecting the same while in this heated condition to yielding pressure, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. In apparatus for reducing and disintegrating ore, the combination, with the reduc ing or pressing wheels and means whereby the ore is heated and is in that condition suppoint between these instrumentalities and arranged and adapted to discharge water or steam, or both, upon the heated ore at or near the point where the latter enters between said rolls, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. I

3. The combination of the stack, the closed chute or ore-discharge spout leading from the lower part of the same, feed mechanism by which the charge of hot material in the stack is allowed to pass in determinate quantity through the chute, the reducing or pressing wheels, and means, substantially as described, for cooling the wheel and feed mechanism, the arrangement being such that the hot ore from the stack shall be fed through the chute directly to the reducing-wheels without appremechanism, the reducing-wheels, and the chute,

of pipes or ducts opening into the chute at a point between the feed and the reducing Wheels and adapted to inject water or steam, or both, into the interior of the chute, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The reducing-wheels adjustable to and 20 from one another, and springs whereby the wheels may automatically yield on separate Within prescribed limits, in combination With the chute, the stack, and the feed mechanism, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbe- 25 fore set forth.

7. The chute provided with adjustable sections to permit it to be fitted to the reducing- Wheels, in combination with the reducing- Wheels adjustable to and from one another, 0 the feed mechanism, and the stack, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of February, 1882.

ELIJAI-I \VARNE.

\Vitnesses:

E. A. DICK, P. B. DoING. 

